I've recently read a book "The Rise of Superman" by Steven Kotler about flow states.
The books says there are three preconditions for a flow state - clear goals, immediate feedback, and a balance between skill and challenge.
Then once in a flow state there is a loss of feeling of self consciousness, a distorted sense of time, a high degree of concentration, a sense of personal control, a lack of awareness of bodily needs, a narrowing of focus and a sense of intrinsic reward.
Apparently this is an incredibly rewarding experience for people, which I'd agree with from my own experience.
Ive definitely felt flow states as a human - Both at work and with horses.
I am wondering whether getting into a flow state is part of what horses might get out of riding, and might be a way that horses could feel intrinsic motivation to work with us.
I've definitely seen horses who seem to get into a flow state. For example, horses that lock onto a jump, or a cow, or a line of tempi changes etc. And some of those horses seem really keen to rise to those challenges, and kind of depressed if they are not occasionally asked to do those things.
Ive also used this feeling before in training horses - tried to get horses swinging around, concentrating, warming into a task. Then within that feeling tone asked for something a little harder. Boom, it works, in a way it wouldn't had if I'd asked for the harder thing "cold".
I'm also aware of horses who rush into fences because they are scared, or throw in flying changes mechanically because they are worried and trying to anticipate - those situations are really easy to recognize and I'm not thinking about those.
I can see how I can set up the prerequisites to make it easy for a horse to get into a flow state.
I can see how I can distract a horse long enough to knock them out of a flow state
I think riding a horse who is in a flow state is something to do carefully. This kind of intense concentration could cause a horse to forget their awareness of their own limits.
I can see how I can use my best judgement and feel in the moment to decide to rein a horse in even if they are really enjoying their focus on a task - perhaps because I have awareness of their fitness, or their soundness, or of the terrain, or the need to be home by dinnertime.